Survival Of The Fittest

(Alexander campbell continues from "Let them eat cake" Party playlist under the spoiler)

Alex sat down on the couch, finishing cleaning up the basement room. He'd spent the afternoon inviting anyone he thought would come down when it had turned out the english department would not let him write an essay on 1984 as his final exam, no matter how much he may want to. So instead, it was another long afternoon of Mark Twain and ol' Willy Shakespeare. He was thinking about the party. The whole thing was starting to have an air of finality. School would be over soon, the myriad social groups would soon be blown apart by further education, their different members scattered across the country in a variety of colleges or employment.

His mother was out for the night, though he doubted that she would have put a halt on the party, even if she had been there. The basement was a large room with a cold stone floor. Alex had put down rugs in an attempt to alleviate this. Posters hung from the walls for a wide variety of bands. His guitar sat on the old moth holed couch next to him. In front of the couch was a large coffee table. There was a box of tins of cider on it. Sitting in front of it was a joint he'd started rolling.

He picked up the half rolled joint, pinching it between his fingers, and rolled it into a finished joint in a quick easy effort. He stretched as he lit it, letting out a long yawn. A few long drags, and already the basement room was getting smoky. He stood up and walked over to the stereo. He placed a copied cd in the tray, sliding it into the cd player and pushing play. With a low pulse the first track began to play. The underground room afforded him some capacity to crank the music, and up the volume went as the track exploded into loud rave-punk. He danced with himself for a few seconds before walking back to his seat on the couch and resumed it, spreading out on the chair while he had the chance, enjoying his joint and the first tin of cider he opened, tasting the sweet apple flavoured nectar.

He thought again about the strange finality of these days. Alex hadn't been accepted to any colleges yet, though admittedly, he'd made no great effort to try. He at least planned to have a year off from any kind of education. He exhaled a long line of smoke.

"Fuck, this train of thought is way to heavy for a party" he muttered to himself.

He shook his head, trying to get into the mindset as he listened for the doorbell.

[spoiler]
1. The Prodigy - Invaders must die
2. Pendulum - Hold your colour
3. Nine Inch Nails - The Becoming (live)
4. Public Image Ltd - Public Image
5. Killing Joke - The Wait
6. Bauhaus - She's In Parties
7. Muse - Knight Of Cydonia (nostalgia dubstep mix)
8. Culprate - Slipper
9. Borgore - Love
10. Tomba - Choke On Coke
11. Agent Provocateur -Tie Me Up
12. Soulwax - E talking
13. Dropkick Murphys - I'm shipping up to boston
14. Muse - Knights of Cydonia
15. Massive Attack - Karmacoma
16. Portishead - Glory Box
[/spoiler]

((Jay Holland continued from Hey, what kind of meat do you think they put in these burgers?))

Jay bounded up to Alex's doorstep, his head bouncing up and down sporadically as Tom Sawyer blared from his headphones. Tonight would be a good night, today would be a good day. He rang the doorbell and then proceeded to launch into a spontaneous air guitar session, pouted his lips and singing along, mimicking Geddy Lee as best as he could.

Though his mind is not for rent,
Don't put him down as arrogant!

He wouldn't be impressing anyone anytime soon with his miserable vocals. It didn't bum him out one bit however, Jay felt an insatiable urge building up inside him. The urge to party, the urge to hang out, the urge to have a good time and dance, to get blazed and laugh at stupid things. And the rush would soon be fulfilled. Jay bounced from one foot to the next and rang the doorbell again. He'd had a rather fun day after Alex had departed for his English exam. With nothing left to do in all his classes, (Or well, nothing he couldn't put off till even later) Jay spent the rest of the day flitting about the school inviting anyone he knew to Alex's get together.

He supposed in retrospect, that he should have probably told Alex about how many people he intended to invite... but Alex might have clamped down, and that would have been no fun. There weren't many feelings worse then hearing about a party happening you weren't invited to. So "Open to anyone!" became the policy as Jay rushed about between the lockers telling anyone he could find to bring their own beer (and weed if they had any). With any luck, this little party could turn epic in a hearbeat and become the stuff of legends. Yes, Jay could picture it now, a party that would be forever remembered from the multitude of drunken facebook snapshots. That was what he was aiming for. Perhaps someone would get wasted and do something incredibly stupid, like get a tattoo? Perhaps he would get a tattoo?

"THE NIGHT IS STILL YOUNG!" A voice in his head yelled out to him. He began to grin. That it was. He'd always wanted a tattoo...

(Joss "Jojo" Joiner continues from Whistle While You Whittle.)

Jojo still couldn't believe he decided to go to this party as he finished his drive to Alex Campbell's place.

Still it wasn't like anyone but himself was forcing Jojo to go this party. Instead it was him simply rebelling against his usual process of going home and either reading manga or working on his woodcrafts. When Jojo heard of this party from Jay Holland earlier, he figured it would be a great party to cut loose since he figured almost none of his closer friends or classmates would be coming. It would also hopefully mean if he did something stupid then few would know who he was and spread the news around the school.

As Jojo got onto the street where the house was located he quickly parked and turned off the car as he saw someone standing at the door of the house he thought the party was at. He thought it was Jay but wasn't sure if he wanted to approach when he was in the middle of rocking out on an air guitar session.

In a moment, Jojo relaxed himself and got out of his car. "Well whatever happens, happens," he thought to himself. He got up to the doorstep and just stood there, wondering which would happen first, Jay noticing him or the door opening to what promised to be an interesting night.

((Janet Binachi continued from Theoretically.))

Janet was more than a little surprised to have been invited to this party. She wasn't a popular person at school, due to what she personally described as a natural aloofness and what less biased people might describe as being a little bitchy. She felt that was unfair. Many more popular girls tended toward extreme bitchiness. She was just a little weird, which was not socially acceptable. Such was her lot in life. Still, the party seemed like it would be a good thing for her to do.

So that was why she was approaching Alexander's house in her dad's Lexus. She immediately felt like her car was a little extravagant, which was terrible because it was probably her father's cheapest car. It was the one he had gotten from Grampa Louie for Christmas about ten years ago. By today's standards, it wasn't a great car, but it was still a luxury car, and it still drove like a dream. It was also still worth three or four, or even more, times as much as the car parked in front of Alexander's house. It was also nicer than the car that had just pulled up, but at least that was a bit newer. Janet maneuvered the car in behind the other boy's car. She couldn't place his name. Something starting with a J. Joe? Probably not.

With her car parked and off, she reached into the back and shifted the jacket to expose a six pack of beer. It was her father's secret stash, and she would probably be reprimanded for having taken it. Still, her knowledge of Alexander (and the invitation to the party including the suggestion to bring some beer) suggested it would be well received. If she were more socially conscious, she'd probably have brought more. Of course, social consciousness was something which happened primarily to other people. She wrapped the beer in the jacket again and bundled it up and cradled it under one arm. She got out of the car, fussed briefly with her clothing (no mean feat while carrying the beer), closed the door and locked it. She was more than a little worried about somebody trying to break into it. Still, if it happened it happened, and if it didn't, then she was lucky. She slipped the keys into her pocket and approached the house.

Alex continued to relax in his chair as the prodigy song finished and the pendulum tube took it's place. He smiled, standing up and beginning to dance as the beat built up. Just as he was getting into it, the doorbell rang. No matter. He left the half smoked joint on the table as he ascended the basement stairs.

He nipped to the fridge and took out two tins of Pear Cider. Wandering over to the door, he opened it to Jay, and behind him Joss and Janet were just arriving.

"Hey Jay come on in." he said. He first held out the spare tin of cider to him then gestured behind him. "You know where the basement is." he said. Jay would have no trouble finding the room, by sound alone you could probably locate it by the loud music played.

Alex's house wasn't the greatest, it was on the poor side of town, but it suited him and his mother. He took the basement, and she took the single floor house. Aside from mealtimes, he and his parent rarely crossed paths. She didn't mind the parties, as long as they stayed in the basement.

Alex leaned on the frame of the door as Jay went in. Then he remembered the joint left on his tables. Dammit, he'd barely gotten a toke, but he was certain when he got down there, it would have somehow appeared in Jays hands. He opened the cider tin and took a drink from it, but mostly kept it at his side, lest prying eyes were to see it.

He smiled at Janet and Joss, waving a hand and waiting for them to approach the door.

((Ethan Kent debut))

Ethan whistled as he drove his car up to the house. He executed a fancy parallel park between two of the neighbors' houses and stepped out of his car with a plastic grocery store bag in hand. Ethan slammed the door of the car and walked up to the door.

He was looking forward to hanging out with some people and taking a night to relax. Ethan had been working so hard on making sure he finished out the year with good grades in his advanced classes that he needed time to unwind with people. And Alex was a chill guy. He was sure it would be a good time. Now if there were some pretty girls, that would make it a great time.

Seeing two other people already entering, Ethan hurried his pace just a touch and stuffed the bag under his arm.

"Hey! Hold the door," he called out lightly

Ethan reached the door just as the other two were passing through.

"Hey, man. Brought a gift for the host," he said holding up the bag. He reached in side and pulled out a bottle of Blue Moon.

"I got my sister, Samantha to buy me some good stuff. None of that Coors or Tacate piss- water.

As the door opened and Alex greeted him with a beer in hand, Jay grabbed his friend in an awkward 'bro hug'. It was clear Alex didn't really expect it, and just as soon as he had grabbed him, Jay let go and stepped back, swiping the beer from Alex's extended hand.

"Hey man, muchos gracias!" He said grinning. "Kick ass. Beer!"

He lowered his headphones, side stepping about his friend and entering the house. He could hear the music pounding from downstairs, it seemed like Alex had already cranked the stereo. Jay turned to see if Alex would follow but saw that two other kids were bounding up the steps, Jojo and some girl. Jay wondered if perhaps she was that Janet girl that Jasper had mentioned about inviting. It was possible. Behind them, he could see a car parking in front of Alex's house.

Wow, good timing for once!

Jay gave a wave to Jojo standing in the door before bounding down the stairs to Alex's basement, he'd get a chance to properly greet him in a few. Jay whistled upon entering the basement, the stereo at one end was blaring some techno song and Jay could see a joint burning a hole in the table.

Well well, lookat' that. That poor joint is just laying there, all lonely...

Looking up to make sure he had some time before Alex descended the stairs, Jay quickly snatched up the joint and inhaled deeply.

"Ahhhh, much better." He said, his smile stretching from ear to ear. He placed the joint back down where it had been moments before and awkwardly collapsed on the couch. He supposed he should open the beer, considering Alex had so graciously given it to him, but he supposed he'd wait until later. He wasn't that heavy a drinker anyways and was slightly hesitant, he didn't know if he'd mag if he drank too much. That wouldn't exactly be the start of a good night. He rolled about on the couch, waiting for his friends to descend the stairs.

Jojo gave a quick smile and a nod to Alex as he went inside. He quickly followed Jay to the basement, aided by the music pumping out of the stereo being at full blast. When Jojo got downstairs he had to brace himself for a moment as the music hit him head on. After getting used to it he saw Jay on a couch and decided to lean on the wall next to it for now.

With a smirk he looks over at Jay and says, "You look like you're enjoying yourself. I wonder though, how many people did you invite to this little shin-dig?"

Janet smiled at Alex as she walked in. "Hello, Alex. I hope you are well? I brought some beer," Janet said, showing the label. Her father had good taste. This was an ale made by Left Hand Brewery in Colorado. It was one of the better choices her father had bought from the company.

She slipped past Alex with a smile, looking around the house. It was... small. She tried not to think of people who were poorer than her as, well, poor, but it was a hard thing to do. She had never wanted for money or... really much of anything. This house was smaller than anything she'd been in before. She could hear the music thumping below her feet as she made her way downstairs. The door was slightly ajar, allowing music to spill into the hallway. She could feel the bass thumping as she opened the door. The sound was deafening. The busybody in her wanted to turn the music down, but she quelled that feeling and set the alcohol down on the table. She nodded a greeting to both boys, Jay and... other boy.

She situated herself on the arm of the couch where she could survey the room. Watching people was her stock-in-trade.

Alex looked surprised as he was embraced in the awkward bro hug and laughed, released swiftly afterwards. The tin of cider was grabbed out of his proffering hand and Jay passed him to head downstairs.

"Make yourself at home, Jay" he called to his friend. Yeah, like he wouldn't anyway, he thought to himself, chuckling slightly. He looked up at Jojo as he went in with a quiet nod. "Hey dude." he said in greeting. He didn't know the kid all that well but hell, the more the merrier. He looked back to see him wandering towards the basement area. "Forwards, left, down." he shouted out helpfully.

"Hello, Alex. I hope you are well? I brought some beer,"

He turned from looking back at Jojo, making sure he found the way to the basement.

"Hey Janet. Welcome to my humble home." he said, with a touch of a smirk. He knew that the girl came from the better end of town by far and what the house must have looked like to her. "Come on in." he said warmly. "I'm a cider drinker myself, but I'm sure the rest of the guys would love you for this." he said, taking the beer and looking at the brand. He gave it back to her. "Forwards, left, down." he said, pointing out the directions to the basement.

"Hey! Hold the door."

He turned back to see Ethan Kent running to catch up to the door.

"Hey, man. Brought a gift for the host,"

He took the bottle of beer and held it up, inspecting it.

"I got my sister, Samantha to buy me some good stuff. None of that Coors or Tacate piss- water."

He grinned at the other boy. "I am as a rule not a beer drinker. But I believe in the case of this one, I shall make an exception." he said. He looked out into the street. "I think that's everyone for now anyway. Come on." he said. He shut the door behind Ethan, pointing down the hall. "Forward, left, down." he said.

As they rejoined the others in the basement, the music changed. The high octane music was replaced by the sound of a cheering crowd. Soon a piano entered the mix, playing a strange rhythm. Suddenly the track exploded into life, a live version of a nine inch nails song, powered by a heavy acoustic guitar rhythm.

"I didn't think you'd make it Ethan." he said, nodding in greeting at the three others as he wandered over. He paused at the table picking up the joint and taking a long draw, exhaling the smoke out above him. He held up the joint and called out a number. "37!" he said. He waited for the inevitable response. It was an easy way of deciding where the joint went next. The first person to say the following number got it passed to them. He took a seat near the stereo, turning it down but only slightly, before picking up his guitar and beginning to play along to the tune while carrying on his conversations at the same time.

"You look like you're enjoying yourself. I wonder though, how many people did you invite to this little shin-dig?"

Jay grinned. He raised his hands on the couch and pretended to count.

"Well lemme think. You, my Math class, English class, that cute girl who always sits alone in the staircase and I'd really like to bang, everyone I knew on the city bus, everyone I DIDN'T know on the city bus.... That Spanish Gangbanger who lives next door to my buddy Chase with the fucked up name, Julio or something. Oh, and my shawtys. ALLLL the shawtys. IN THE WORLD."

Heheh. I don't even know what that means..

He dropped his hands back down on his chest and grinned up at Jojo.

"I would know how many people that is, but I was busy asking everyone to the party in Math Class. So I dunno any math. Ever."

As he was saying this, a rather tall (Ie; freakin' massive) girl made her way down the stairs to join Jojo and him. His eyes bulged slightly at the height of her, but he quickly got over it. What more concerned him was the fact she was a hotness incarnate.

"Woah. Hi." He said as she sat down on the coach.

Just then, Alex descended the stairs, Ethan Hunt in tow. Jay grinned at the boys and watched in approval as Alex took a long draw from the blunt.

" 'iz good, yes yes?" He said in a terribly fake Russian accent.

"37" Alex said.

Jay jumped up off the couch towards the joint and made his way towards Alex hands outstretched clawing for the joint in self parody.

"38!" Jay yelled. Despite having just taken a hit, he wasn't going to pass up another opportunity. He took the joint from Alex and watched as the boy sat down with his guitar.

"Mannn..." He said admiring the joint in his hands. His gaze flickered back up to the others. "So how is everyone anyway eh?"

[[Hayley Kelly continued from Theoretically]]

Perhaps this wasn't a good idea. Perhaps the fact that she had gotten massively sick earlier was God or Allah or whatever's way of telling her that she shouldn't be drinking anymore today. Perhaps she should just turn around and go home now. She'd actually considered doing just that- she'd even called Kyle and told him she was going home sick. But then she got that fated call from a certain Alexander.

And barring cancer, immolation or a zombie apocalypse, Hayley Kelly would never, ever say no to a party.

She felt a little bad about calling Kyle back up after having just told him that she was staying home- particularly because these parties weren't his thing. But hey, she wanted to see him, and she wanted to go to the party- this was a compromise, right? Or something. So Hayley had in fact returned home, long enough to show her parents that she was alive, picked up a new bottle of vodka from her room (Always be prepared for a party might as well be her motto), told her parents she was going out, and left. Perhaps they'd be pissed off when she returned home (at whatever hour of night she ended up doing so), but hey, sacrifices had to be made. Priorities had to be chosen.

And so she arrived at Alex's house, the neck of her vodka bottle sticking out of her bag. Obvious? Yes, but being inconspicuous was a priority she hadn't chosen. She'd asked Kyle to meet her here and it seemed he hadn't yet arrived. That was fine with her- as much as she wanted to see Kyle, she wasn't sure how well he'd handle this particular situation. Besides, she'd always thought Alex was rather cute...Hayley shook her head and scowled. Bad Hayley. Bad. Be a good girl for once in your life...a drunken, hopefully stoned good girl. She giggled to herself at the contradiction.

With a small sigh she made her way up to Alex's door. She was running a bit late- her house had been a bit out of the way- so she imagined the party had gotten started already. Knowing Alex there would be music, and it would be loud. So she rang the doorbell three times and yelled for good measure- "Alex! It's me! Open the hell up!"

---
[[Jasper-Declan MacDermott continued from Hey, what kind of meat do you think they put in these burgers?]]

Sometimes fate had a way of messing with people.

Most of the time this was a bad thing, but for once fate seemed to be working on the side of good. Jasper-Declan arrived at home, set to babysit his brother Tristan-Rory, to find that his older sister Audrey-Honoria happened to be visiting from college that day. After having explained the situation to her- he had been invited to, and in fact had been involved in the planning of, a party, and was missing it to babysit- she was more than willing to take his place. "I've got nothing better to do," she'd said, smiling, "and besides, I'm just happy that you're finally making real friends."

Whatever that was supposed to mean.

He'd made his way to Alex's at his own pace- on skateboard as usual, leaving his bookbag at home. On arrival, he saw a girl standing at Alex's door- Hayley, her name was? He didn't remember her name having come up in their party-planning discussion, but her reputation proceeded her. She seemed to have already rang the bell- stepping off his skateboard and picking it up, Jasper-Declan stood behind her, waiting patiently for the door to open.

"I am as a rule not a beer drinker. But I believe in the case of this one, I shall make an exception."

"Fuck yeah, man. Take a load off, have a drink, relax. Senior year is pretty much over. We've earned some relaxation. Senior picnic, class trip, graduation and then we're done. We're home free."

Ethan readjusted the beer under his arm and walked down the stairs to the basement. He stuck his beer on a table and pulled one out of the pack. On his keys was a little bottle opener he used to crack open his tasty Blue Moon beer.

He flopped down on the couch next to Jay, grabbed another beer and tossed it at the boy to his left.

"Live CD, hu?" he asked, referring to the music. "Have you heard the one that came out last year, Year Zero? It's really good, man. Not Downward Spiral good, but way better than With Teeth and The Fragile.

Ethan took a deep swig of the beer. "Seriously, you should pick it up.

((Stacy Hart continued from Wrestling with the Clock))

Word had spread pretty quickly through the school, and since the year was just about over Stacy shrugged her shoulders and said "what the hell" when she heard about the party. It'd be the last time she'd see most of her classmates, and she needed to get out anyhow. She'd even managed to pick up a bottle of Black Velvet Reserve on the way there, but it would take her a few drinks before she'd even think about letting anybody know how she got the clerk at the liquor store to forget to ID her. What hadn't hurt at all was the fact that she'd decided to dress just a little slutty. She knew it was cliche, but she'd decided to go for a naughty schoolgirl look. For some reason even after seeing it over and over again, guys didn't get tired of it. And she'd noticed that she could get away with anything short of murder by wearing a low cut top a short skirt.

It didn't take her long to find the place. She was pretty good with directions, and it wasn't all that far away anyhow. She'd brought a light jacket along, mostly because she didn't want to carry a bag and needed somewhere to put her keys since she didn't have any pockets. After retrieving the bottle and locking her car up she dropped the keys into her pocket before making her way to the door and ringing the bell.

((Kyle Portman continued from Pour Me A Drink))

Kyle jogged up along the road toward Alex's house. He lived about three miles away, which was just enough to make the journey a bit of a work-out. He had, fortunately, avoided any untoward attention from any untoward individuals. He fell into step next to Hayley with a smile and a pant. He quickly caught his breath and gave Hayley a better smile. He had been a little surprised when she called him again to rescind her feeling sick. He himself felt fine. He drank enough water to avoid the problems associated with heavy drinking, such as hang-overs and vomiting. He had about a gallon in the bag he was carrying right now.

"Glad to see you're feeling better," he said, swooping in to plant a kiss on Hayley's cheek. He really had no qualms about PDA, as long as it didn't get out of hand.

-----------------

Janet glanced at Jay. For a second, she considered treating him like she treated most guys who found themselves smitten by her. But then she thought, 'This is a party. I'm here to have fun. Why not get to know him?' She turned and smiled, sliding down off the arm of the sofa to sit next to Jay. "Hey," she said, pushing her hair out of her face.

Seconds later, there was a rush of activity as Jay stood to get the joint from Alex. Janet blinked. She had never seen someone move that fast for something so small. She sat back as Jay asked how everybody was. She briefly considered the question before realizing it was small talk. All she had to say was fine, not a discourse on her current emotional and physical state. She smiled again and said, "Oh, I'm alright."